MentalHealthDaily

SPP1 Marks Cross-Disease Microglial Activation in Neurodegeneration

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for SPP1 microglia and neurodegeneration transcriptomics.

A 2026 Glia analysis found a shared microglial transcriptional program across 5 neurodegenerative contexts: ALS, frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, aging, and Parkinson’s disease.1 The standout marker was SPP1, a gene encoding osteopontin, but the finding is a cellular-state signal rather than a ready diagnostic test. Research Highlights Cross-disease microglia converged: the integrated dataset covered ALS, …

Under-Mattress Sensors Predict Dementia Agitation: 333-Night Cohort

by GLOOM

Stylized illustration of an under-mattress sensor connected to a clock and waveform pattern, indicating overnight respiratory and movement signals predicting next-day behavioral risk in a dementia care setting.

Daytime agitation in dementia fluctuates day-to-day, and a 2026 explanatory study from Liu et al. used contactless under-mattress sensors in 55 long-term-care residents and an external 17-person home-monitoring cohort to show that lower nocturnal respiratory rate and higher activity instability robustly predict next-day agitation occurrence — but not severity.1 Research Highlights Lower breathing rate: adjusted …